Daily Reading for Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

Reading 1, First John 4:11-18

11 My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love one another.

12 No one has ever seen God, but as long as we love one another God remains in us and his love comes to its perfection in us.

13 This is the proof that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us a share in his Spirit.

14 We ourselves have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as Saviour of the world.

15 Anyone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.

16 We have recognised for ourselves, and put our faith in, the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.

17 Love comes to its perfection in us when we can face the Day of Judgement fearlessly, because even in this world we have become as he is.

18 In love there is no room for fear, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear implies punishment and no one who is afraid has come to perfection in love.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 72:1-2, 10, 12-13

1 [Of Solomon] God, endow the king with your own fair judgement, the son of the king with your own saving justice,

2 that he may rule your people with justice, and your poor with fair judgement.

10 the kings of Tarshish and the islands will pay him tribute. The kings of Sheba and Saba will offer gifts;

12 For he rescues the needy who calls to him, and the poor who has no one to help.

13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the needy from death.

Gospel, Mark 6:45-52

45 And at once he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side near Bethsaida, while he himself sent the crowd away.

46 After saying goodbye to them he went off into the hills to pray.

47 When evening came, the boat was far out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.

48 He could see that they were hard pressed in their rowing, for the wind was against them; and about the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the sea. He was going to pass them by,

49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost and cried out;

50 for they had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke to them and said, 'Courage! It's me! Don't be afraid.'

51 Then he got into the boat with them and the wind dropped. They were utterly and completely dumbfounded,

52 because they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant; their minds were closed.

Bible Resources

The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) is a Catholic translation of the Bible published in 1985. The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has become the most widely used Roman Catholic Bible outside of the United States. It has the imprimatur of Cardinal George Basil Hume.

Like its predecessor, the Jerusalem Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) version is translated "directly from the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic." The 1973 French translation, the Bible de Jerusalem, is followed only "where the text admits to more than one interpretation." Introductions and notes, with some modifications, are taken from the Bible de Jerusalem.

Source: The Very Reverend Dom (Joseph) Henry Wansbrough, OSB, MA (Oxon), STL (Fribourg), LSS (Rome), a monk of Ampleforth Abbey and a biblical scholar. He was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. "New Jerusalem Bible, Regular Edition", pg. v.

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